Cleveland Police crackdown on dangerous heavy goods vehicles

Officers from the Cleveland and Durham Roads Policing Unit and North Yorkshire Police, working alongside officials from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and Border Force, carried out an operation to ensure the safe carriage of dangerous goods through the area.

Cleveland Police say the operation was launched to ensure that drivers and companies had safe roadworthy vehicles on the roads.

The operation also included inspecting a range of other commercial vehicles which were carrying non-dangerous goods.

Over the course of three days last week, dozens of vehicle checks were carried out at Exelby Services, off the A19, near Northallerton.

Defects which were found included a fuel leak, defective lights and issues with vehicle markings and documentation.In vehicles carrying non-dangerous goods, police found a number of issues with insecure loads, cracked windscreens, defective tyres suspension and lights and vehicles carrying excess weight.

Police say all the vehicles checked also had their tyres treads checked and that some were found below the legal limit.

Sergeant Mark Kewley, of the Cleveland and Durham Roads Policing Unit, said: “We all have a responsibility to ensure that vehicles are fit to be on the road, particularly when these vehicles are carrying dangerous goods, some of which can be toxic and extremely damaging.

“We have carried out this operation to ensure that those drivers and companies involved have safe roadworthy vehicles on our roads so that we can keep people as safe as we possibly can.”